Worcester Cathedral home to rare Lesser Horseshoe Bats

The regeneration of Worcester City's waterfront is a feather in the cap for the City and the County of Worcestershire.

The River Severn is an incredible asset to the City and an increasing
focus for high-quality built development. But did you know that the historic
city is also home to nationally rare wildlife?

Ecologist
Cody Levine describes
the Lesser Horseshoe bats recently found to be roosting near Worcester
Cathedral as a fascinating and quite vulnerable species: "These bats are
uniquely beautiful and provide a vital function in supporting our agricultural
economy by removing vast numbers of crop pests. This is the only urban colony
of the species I'm aware of."

Lesser horseshoe bats
have become extinct in the north midlands and northern England within the last
50 years because of changes to the way we manage our natural environment.

Levine
said: "To find
them in the heart of Worcester City is testament to the fantastic and high
quality natural environment we have here."

Worcestershire is
probably near the north-eastern edge of the lesser horseshoe bats range, but
the bats are particularly vulnerable to disturbance and sensitive to high power
lighting, having evolved to hunt in the darkness using sound to find insect
prey. When the regeneration of the riverside along Severn Way included new bollard
lighting, the bat colony under the Cathedral would have been obstructed from
returning to their roost or dispersing into the countryside.

"The County Council
has a legal obligation and a moral duty to help conserve this colony for the
benefit of our natural environment for future generations" Levine notes.

Initially, officers
thought there could be a conflict between new street lighting and helping the
bats enter and exit their legally protected roost. But, with expert advice, the
County Council is undertaking a lighting experiment which should pose no risk
to the public safety but will significantly help the bats.

A short section of the
bollard lighting, just outside the bat roost near the Cathedral, will be turned
off around sunset and before sunrise (only during the summer months while bats
are awake) to allow the bats safe passage. To ensure the safety of the Public,
railings to match those used further up and down the riverside are to installed
to prevent any falls (replacing the current temporary orange barriers). Novel
low-power solar lighting will be used to help mark the corridor extent to
pedestrians and a new information board will provide details about the bats.

Levine
notes that
"unfortunately we're unable to adjust or alter the lights in any way, so
we have to turn them off for short periods when we know that bats will be
trying to leave their roost. The County Council hopes that riverside
pedestrians can appreciate both our rare wildlife and the fantastic
high-quality built environment which complements Worcestershire's outstanding
natural environment".

Worcestershire
County Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member with Responsibility for
Environment, Anthony Blagg said:
"Worcestershire County Council is proud of Worcestershire's natural
environmental and keen to ensure that the vital urban regeneration of Worcester
City's waterfront is compatible with maintaining our natural assets too. In
this case, the County Council recognises it has a legal and moral duty to
appropriately consider protected species alongside its obligation to maintain a
safe, well-lit and attractive public environment."

"We understand that
these lesser horseshoe bats have likely used this roost for generations and
we're pleased that this pragmatic solution will help ensure that the bats will
be here for the benefit of generations to come. This is a proud contribution
towards Worcestershire's credentials for sustainable development."